My mother is losing her hair due to chemotherapy..What can she do to lessen the hair loss?

Question

She has not lost all her hair so just looking for alternatives to prevent all of it from falling.

Answer 1

I didn't try this but I heard that if you use a cold pack on your head during chemo that it will help with not losing hair. Chemo kills all rapidly growing cells, i.e. hair too. If that doesn't work then she could take control of her situation instead of letting the chemo control it by having a buzz party. That way all of the close friends and family she has will get to take part in her baldness and at the same time see her bald so that it take the anticipated shock that she feels others may feel away and ease her mind...She would have essentially taken control of her self instead of letting chemo take control.

Answer 2

Bless - unfortunately there isn't much that can be done about the hair loss. My Mum had chemo and very nearly all her head hair and half her eyebrows and eyelashes disappeared. She had short hair to start with but cut it shorter so it didn't seem quite so bad. She also got hats and bandannas to cover her head and partly penciled in her eyebrows. Although she did lose most of her hair it grew up - quite curly actually but greyer - the curls are OK but she's not too happy with the grey! Get your Mum to keep strong and positive and remind her however, horrible it is now that her hair will grow back. The hospital can advise your Mum on wigs, hats and the like - if she looks when she has chemo she will find lots of information. I hope her chemo goes well.

Answer 3

I know what your mother is going through & it's one of the more difficult adjustments through this process. AS one other said, she should accept the change with pride & really nothing can be done to prevent this. Mine fell out on day 10 after my first treatment for BC but didn't lose my eyebrows or eyelashes so got lucky there. I got a free wig from the Amer. Cancer Society & a free hat for warmth in the winter. I also wear bandanas a lot, just what works for me. Some wear baseball caps, fancy hats, or nothing & they don't care. Most importantly is her overall health & happiness during this whole difficult process. As my oncologist told me, if there was a magic pill to take to prevent hair loss, all of his patients would be taking it so basically no such thing. God Bless!

Answer 4

My mother went through the same thing. Most likely, all her hair will fall out, down to her eyebrows. Try using an eyeliner pencil to recreate those -- you'd be surprised how people don't really notice.

I suggest scarves and light hats instead of wigs. I knew someone who went through chemotherapy about a year, two years, before my mother. She wore wigs practically all the time, and as soon as her hair came back in, she began to dye it. It will, more than likely, come in softer, like a baby's peach fuzz. When this happen, DO NOT CUT IT. DO NOT WEAR WIGS, and DO NOT DYE IT.
I found that, when my mother did not do the things I listed in all caps, she now has shoulder-length, soft, decently thick hair, where the other woman I spoke of before (who did all the things in caps), had very poor hair growth.

No one will judge your mother as hard as she judges herself. Many times, people won't even notice. Believe it or not, the hair starts coming back when chemotherapy is done, and in a year's time, it will be almost impossible to tell. Tell your mother to hang in there.

Answer 5

Unfortunately, there is nothing to do to stop it. The chemo is too strong of a drug. But she can make the best of it. My Mom got a free wig from "Locks Of Love". She looked quite nice in it. She aslo had lots of neat hats. She NEVER wore hats before. And she looked wonderful in them. She was starting to turn grey when she lost her hair. And when it came back, it was her natural color from before, no grey at all! She is 72 now and still is not grey! Her chemo was 10 years ago. Actually, she looked pretty good bald! She has a very nice shaped head for it. If I knew I could look that good bald, I'd do it! Like Demi Moore did in that movie. So just be there for her. If she is like my Mom, she is about to get sicker from the chemo. She didn't get real bad sick untill most of the hair was gone. One thing that can help, as she gets sicker especially, is to wrap her head or put a hat on when she sleeps. My Mom would wake up choking from getting hair in her mouth from it falling out and sleeping. And they are too sick to lose any sleep they may get comfortably. Hope this helps alittle as you go through all of this. It's tough. God Bless!

Answer 6

as everyone has said, its not likely she'll be able to stop the hair falling out. A lot of women i've spoken to that lost their hair say that when it happened to them it was terrible, but looking back it was actually really empowering. They described it as shedding the external layers to realise how beautiful and strong they were inside. So tell her not to fight it, but face it with strength and pride: no one that looks at her will care, it will be a sign of her strength.
What she can do in the meanwhile is begin massaging her scalp with some rosemary, nettle and sage lotion. They can be made by boiling up the herbs and basically making a tea from them, then rubbing the lotion into the scalp (when its cooled!). they improve circulation to the scalp and will help hair regrow stronger. otherwise, rosemary oil can be rubbed into the scalp as a soothing head rub.
There's also a lot of natural medicine that can be used conjunctively with some chemos that help keep energy levels and emotions up: look at juicing, and the herbs astragalus and cat's claw. talk to a naturopath about these. I put my sister on them and the one day she forgot to take them her hair started falling out. Coincidence...maybe, maybe not.

Good luck :) it'll all be ok...

Answer 7

Absolutely nothing. If you loose your hair from chemotherapy, there is nothing to do to stop it happening. I always suggested to my patients to consider cutting their hair very short prior to beginning chemotherapy so the loss is less of a shock. Also to go to a wig shop and get a wig that matches your current color and style. Many women like wearing the head scarves....I think they look really sheik.

Answer 8

I'm sorry to hear that your mother is ill. I haven't heard of anything that will lessen the hair loss but she could eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Drink water and get alot of sleep and walk when she is up to it. Her recuperation time should be faster and maybe her hair will grow back in faster.

My husband is going bald and he was always obsessing about it so I suggested that he go ahead and shave it off and he is very happy with the results. I'm not saying your mom should shave her hair all off but maybe cut it in short layers so that it is less noticeable. Good luck and God Bless

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Lose it with pride. Be strong! She's got way bigger things to worry about than hair loss. It will grow back. In the meantime, get her a cool hat to wear. If she's really self conscious about it she could wear a wig.
Best of luck to her for a fast and thorough recovery!